NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar is expected to land in Pakistan on Tuesday for the SCO heads of govt meeting, well in time for a welcome dinner hosted by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif.
While both sides have ruled out any formal bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the SCO event, the minister as of now is expected to participate in the dinner and exchange pleasantries with Shehbaz and counterpart Ishaq Dar before the summit Wednesday.Even though it won’t be a fleeting visit as was previously thought, the EAM will likely spend not more than 24 hours in Pakistan.
Jaishankar will be in Pakistan on Oct 15-16 for what will be the first visit by any Indian foreign minister to the country in nearly a decade. A day after India confirmed his visit to Pakistan, Jaishankar said he wasn’t going to discuss India’s ties with Pakistan but to be a “good member” of SCO, which also counts Russia, China, Iran and four Central Asian countries as member-states.
India hasn’t allowed its differences with Pakistan on the issue of cross-border terrorism, or even border tensions with China, to come in the way of its participation in the Eurasian bloc that is seen as playing an important role in ensuring regional security.
While a structured bilateral meeting is ruled out, a quick pull aside, possibly behind the scenes, could take place but India will expect Islamabad to propose any such meeting.
Pakistan, however, has remained focused on the issue of Kashmir with Dar saying Sunday Islamabad under Shehbaz hasn’t lost an opportunity to raise it along with the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang will also be present at the event but there’s no confirmation yet of any bilateral meeting between him and Jaishankar.
In his SCO address, Jaishankar is likely to underscore India’s concerns about terrorism and need to respect sovereignty and territorial integrity.
